The invention relates to an exposure apparatus, and in particular to an exposure apparatus and method thereof utilized in manufacture of a liquid crystal display.
As shown in FIG. 1, during manufacture of a liquid crystal panel, a panel 10′ is disposed on a conventional loading mechanism 20′. The conventional loading mechanism 20′ is made of non-transparent material such as aluminum. The panel 10′ comprises two substrates 11′ and 12′, and a sealant 13′. The substrate 11′ comprises color filter (CF), and the substrate 12′ comprises thin film transistor (TFT). There are two panel manufacturing methods. In one method, the substrates 11′ and 12′ are connected by the sealant 13′. Then, the sealant 13′ must be chemically reacted to solidify. For example, UV light of certain wavelength produced by a light source 15′ can solidify the photosensitive sealant 13′. Heating can also be used to solidify the sealant 13′. In this method, after the sealant 13′ is solidified, an empty cell is formed, and liquid crystal 16′ is filled therein. In another method, the sealant 13′ is applied to the edge of the lower substrate 12′, and liquid crystal 16′ is dropped by a one-drop-fill (ODF) method. After ODF, the upper substrate 11′ is covered thereon. UV light solidifies the sealant 13′ to form a liquid crystal panel.
In a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) system, due to limitation of related devices, in said both manufacturing methods, each production line can only provide single-side exposure, that is, UV light can only illuminate one of the CF or TFT substrate. Complete solidification requires the substrate 11′ side to be exposed to the UV light to partially solidify the sealant 13′, and then rotate 180° to illuminate the opposing substrate 12′. The process is complicated, increasing loads on the CIM system and high manufacturing costs. The manufacturing time is also longer such that the production line cannot be efficiently utilized, thereby limiting product design.